Romal’s £100m Liverpool Waters project heads to inquiry

Concerns about the heritage impact of the 330-home scheme and question marks over how it fits into Peel L&P’s £5bn masterplan have held the project back. 

Romal Capital, headed up by Australian co-founder Greg Malouf, wants to build a 330-home development in the Central Docks area of Liverpool Waters. However, Liverpool City Council has not determined the proposals within the statutory period due to reservations it has about the scheme. 

After plans were lodged last February, the city council asked Romal to address various issues it had with the project but the developer has failed to do so, according to a report to the council’s planning committee. 

After failing to agree a way forward, Romal has appealed against the non-determination of the proposals, meaning the planning inspectorate will have the final say on if they are approved following an inquiry. 

To guide the appeal process, Liverpool City Council’s planning committee will meet next week to determine if it agrees with officers’ recommendation that the proposals should be refused. 

The city council’s reasons for refusal are as follows: 

• Harm caused by infilling of West Waterloo Dock 
• The scheme would impinge on land earmarked in the Liverpool Waters masterplan for a public square 
• The proposed development contains too many one-bedroom apartments. 

Both Peel and Romal “believe the proposed development is vital to maintaining momentum and investor confidence in the Liverpool Waters scheme”, according to the council. 

“We are obviously incredibly disappointed at the decision to recommend refusal on this application,” Malouf told Place North West.

“We are particularly disturbed given the three years of intense engagement with Liverpool City Council regarding this development, the significant adjustments we have made to our proposals, and the subsequent assurances we have been given during this long and very costly process.”

Romal first lodged plans for the redevelopment of plot C02 of the Liverpool Waters masterplan in 2019.  The company proposed creating 643 apartments but then scaled back its plans. 

Elsewhere within the masterplan, Romal has already developed Quay Central and Park Central, totalling 237 apartments. 

“The regeneration of Liverpool’s waterfront is critical to the growth of this city,” Malouf continued. “This proposal is a critical component of that growth. We believe Liverpool City Council should be supporting the regeneration of its northern waterfront, working with reputable developers like Romal to move projects forward and prioritise brownfield sites.”

Liverpool City Council declined to comment.

• Read Greg Malouf’s full statement below

We are obviously incredibly disappointed at the decision to recommend refusal on this application.

We are particularly disturbed given the three years of intense engagement with Liverpool City Council regarding this development, the significant adjustments we have made to our proposals, and the subsequent assurances we have been given during this long and very costly process. 

We are proposing £100 million of private investment to transform a patch of barren brownfield land and derelict dock into a thriving new, diverse, and sustainable neighbourhood.  We want to deliver new homes at a time of acute pressures in the housing sector. 

We must also not forget the communities that surround the site in question – some of the less well-off and most deprived wards in the United Kingdom. In the development phase this project would create over 200 jobs, and we always work with our contractors to maximise local employment.  In the long term the amenities, retail, leisure, and other services that form part of our proposal, will provide long term sustainable employment for many local people.

The regeneration of Liverpool’s waterfront is critical to the growth of this city.  This proposal we feel is a critical component of that growth; active waterfront for many to enjoy, prime pedestrian connectivity between Docks that is yet to be sufficiently catered for, immense improvement of the waterway and much needed high-quality housing for families and young professionals.  We believe Liverpool City Council should be supporting the regeneration of its northern waterfront, working with reputable developers like Romal to move projects forward and prioritise brownfield sites. 

Liverpool Waters – the complete regeneration of the city’s northern docklands – has the power to uplift this city even further, bringing investment, jobs, new businesses, and suitable housing, all centred on the historical river, docks and canal system.  What could be Liverpool’s greatest opportunity sadly remains inaccessible, uninhabitable, and screaming out for investment.

When Everton’s new stadium opens to the public in three to four years’ time, what do we want visitors to see? A flourishing, mixed, sustainable world-class waterfront, with new homes, new parks, green spaces, and public realm for everyone to enjoy – or undeveloped barren brownfield land?  

In December 2021, we appealed based on grounds of non-determination due to Liverpool City Council Planning Officer’s inability reach a decision. The application will go to committee this month where a refusal there will mean the technical merits of the proposals will be decided by the Planning Inspectorate.

We believe in this city, and despite this set back, will continue to invest and support Liverpool’s growth.  We firmly believe Liverpool rightly deserves to sit alongside the UK’s other great cities, and that this is only possible with the right investment and belief in it.